booksofbayernfandomcom-20200214-history
Selia
Selia'' ''is the antagonist of The Goose Girl ''and later, ''Forest Born. '' Biography Selia was born with the gift of people-speaking. This ability allows her to look at a person and instinctively know the right words to say that will convince them to like her and do what she says. She presumably uses this ability to help her become the first and only lady-in-waiting in Crown Princess Anidori-Kiladra's retinue. ''The Goose Girl Selia invites Princess Ani to have tea with her and her mother, knowing that Ani needs practice conversing with people. Selia is at ease and gracious as always, a stark contrast to Ani's uncomfortable stammering. After the king's death, Selia stands at Ani's side during the burial and so is present when the queen mentions that she has chosen her second child, Calib, to be her heir instead of Ani, her firstborn. Selia is extremely indignant and urges Ani to confront her mother. The queen coolly explains that Ani would never have been fully accepted by the people of Kildenree, so she has decided to send her daughter to the neighboring country of Bayern to wed their prince. Selia is displeased to hear of the queen's decision and stubbornly continues to call Ani by her full and original title of Crown Princess. She chides Ani for her passive compliance, but soon realizes the futility of her protests and begins to look forward to the journey. As they travel through the countryside, Selia's good mood is a great comfort to the princess, who has never before left the palace gates. Selia is enthusiastic to reach Bayern and is often the center of attention, especially from a guard named Ungolad. Throughout the journey, Selia speaks with Ungolad privately and grows more distant and cool towards Ani. One night, Ani catches her holding one of her dresses up against herself. Ani confronts Selia about her chilly behavior and causes her lady-and-waiting's composure to finally crack, revealing that Selia has always been jealous that Ani was born a Crown Princess and yet did nothing but hide in her room. Freed from the biting words she has longed to say for years, Selia rejects Ani's friendship and quits her job as lady-in-waiting. A week before the company is expected to reach the capital city of Bayern, Ungolad and half the escort mutiny, naming Selia as their princess by intending to kill Ani so Selia can steal her identity. Ungolad starts to move towards Ani, but as a loyal guard named Adon moves to stop him, he is quickly killed by a traitor named Ishta. A frightened Ani takes a horse and manages to escape into the woods as the sounds of battle chase her away. Selia and her fellow traitors are victorious and by midnight are digging graves for the slain men. Selia makes an impressive entrance riding Falada into Bayern's capital where she effortlessly plays the part Princess Anidori. Soon after, she has Ungolad drive the horse mad so that she can have him put down, preventing Ani from reuniting with her horse and displaying their "oh-so magical bond", which would lead to awkward questions. Despite all the blood she's caused to spill, Selia spends her months in the palace working to win the prince's heart while enjoying the luxury and power that is available to her. She attends the wintermoon festival with the prince and has fun teasing him, but she is later told by Ishta that he and a fellow traitor, Yulan, had caught Ani at that very festival. However, she managed to escape them with the help of the local peace-keepers and Yulan was killed in the following struggle. Selia redoubles the search for Ani and begins to enact her plan that will prevent anyone from Kildenree, including royal envoys, Ani's siblings, and the queen, from ever exposing her. Selia tells the king that Kildenree is plotting to attack Bayern and that she, Princess Anidori, was sent to act as a decoy and marry the prince to pretend all is well. She explains that she has grown to like Bayern and doesn't want to be a part of Kildenree's evil ways. Outraged, the king prepares Bayern for war. It is decided that the wedding between Selia and Prince Geric will take place in a grand manor house on the way to war. Selia bribes the guards at the front gate, just in case Ani shows up with any big ideas. Sure enough, Ani attempts to gain access to the king by pretending to be her younger sister Napralina, as an emissary and witness to the wedding. The guards lead her straight to Selia, who asks Ungolad if he can take her away from the estate quietly. But before he can, the king summons "Napralina" to his presence. Ani does her best to convince him of her true identity, but Selia's voice is too powerful. She offers Ani a peaceful resolution if she resigns, but Ani refuses and begs the king to listen to the testimony of Talone, the captain of Ani's escort who managed to survive the slaughter in the Forest. Although shocked to hear that Talone survived, Selia quickly implies that he is fickle and thus his word means nothing. Ani then tries to appeal to Geric, whom she had met when she was disguised as a goose girl, but Selia convinces the king that Ani is merely trying to use the prince "to win her little game", but she doesn't quite manage to convince the prince himself. The king, impatient, asks Selia to name the Kildenrean punishment for treason. With wicked glee, Selia invents a punishment consisting of being placed naked in a barrel full of nails and dragged throughout the streets by four white horses, much to Ani's horror. At Geric's suggestion, the king decides to leave Ani alone with her countrymen in the hopes that they will achieve a suitable resolution. As soon as they leave, Selia kisses Ungolad deeply, elated at their triumph. Selia softly tells Ani how wonderful it has been to be her, and that even when she thought Ani was dead, she wished that Ani could see her former lady-in-waiting being her and doing it better. Physical Description Selia is three hands shorter than Ani and resembles her enough to be sisters. She has long blonde hair a shade darker than Ani's, once described as "a washed-out brown" rather than a true yellow. She is curvy and seems to enjoy wearing rich, flattering dresses and jewelry. Relationships Selia's mother is the key-mistress of the White Stone Palace in Kildenree. Her mother seems proud of Selia's people-speaking abilities and appears to look to her daughter's talents for assistance. She supports her daughter's amb Family ition and even forges a document and steals one of the queen's seals to sign it with in order to aid Selia's plan. Friendship For much of Anidori's life in Kildenree, Selia is her only friend. Selia often attempts to help Ani practice her duties of being a crown princess, and is excessively offended when she finds out that the queen chose to transfer Ani's birthright as heir to the crown to her son Calib, deciding to marry Ani off to the prince of Bayern instead. On the long journey to Bayern, Selia is increasingly reluctant to serve Ani and soon reveals her true intentions of becoming royalty by killing Ani and stealing her name. Enemies After revealing her dark plan to steal Ani's identity, Selia and her followers kill nearly everyone in Ani's travel party. Ani manages to escape, but ever since then Selia has vowed to kill Ani, but not before proving to her that she is better. Romance Throughout the journey to Bayern, Ani notices that one of her guards, Ungolad, seems to be smitten with Selia. He is hopelessly wrapped around Selia's finger and is her fiercely loyal second-in-command. Ungolad is genuinely protective of Selia to the point of obsession, reacting angrily when he thinks anyone is getting to close to her. At the end of The Goose Girl, he viciously fights Geric in single combat because he knows that the prince would have "shared Selia's bed." Too blinded by rage, Ungolad is fatally wounded. However, when Selia sees her lover's body, she doesn't even bat an eye. In Forest Born, King Scandlan of Kel is seduced by Selia and is so charmed by her, he intends to make her his bride. Although he knows deep down that she manipulates and overpowers him, she is also brilliant and tempting, a "rare fresh fruit when all the world is winter". He is deeply saddened by Selia's death. Abilities * Selia is an exceptionally talented people-speaker. She becomes so skilled in her gift, it becomes almost impossible to resist the seductive power of her words. Quotes * "Royalty is not a right, Captain. The willingness of the people to follow a ruler is what gives her power. Here, in this place, by this people, I have been chosen. These men are tired of being told whom to follow. Now they have a choice, and they use that choice to call me Princess." * "Being a princess is more work than a lady-in-waiting. You should know; you have watched me most of your life... You have told me how you have felt being consigned to a life of servitude. I sympathize. I know you feel trapped by the narrowness of your occupation. To wait. To sit and wait and serve your mistress. I can understand it must be frustrating. But, princess?... And as much as it is a burden at times, I'm not going to resign on your behalf." Trivia * When Selia was a little girl, she would throw violent temper tantrums when she did not get her way. However, by age seven, she seems to have learned how to control herself. * The animal workers of Bayern hear a rumor that Selia, posing as Princess Anidori, had twenty dresses made in the first few months since she entered the city. * Selia claims to be allergic to horses, but Ani has seen her willingly enter a stable holding hands with an unknown man and Selia doesn't seem to have any problems riding or being near horses on the trip to Bayern. Category:People Category:What she looks like